New Open Letter to EU Commissioner for Competition says: No Valid Justification for Subsidising Nuclear Power

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An Open Letter to the EU Commissioner for Competition, prepared by the Energy Fair group and with many signatures, calls for an end to all subsidies for nuclear power.

Nuclear subsidies divert resources from other options that are better and cheaper.

(PRWEB UK)4 December 2013

An Open Letter to Joaquín Almunia, EU Commissioner for Competition, urges him to oppose all subsidies for the proposed new nuclear plant at Hinkley Point in south-west England and calls on him to open a formal investigation into the project and its associated subsidies.

The letter, which has been signed by many prominent individuals and organisations and endorsed by many others, says, "There is no valid justification for subsidising nuclear power. It diverts resources from other options that are better and cheaper. ... nuclear subsidies are bad for energy security, bad for the fight against climate change, bad financially for consumers and taxpayers in the UK, and bad for the development, throughout Europe, of the good alternatives which are ready to go, cheaper than nuclear power, and very much quicker to build."

The Energy Fair group, which has prepared the letter, submitted a formal complaint about subsidies for nuclear power to the EU Directorate General for Competition in December 2011 (Reference: SA.32626(2011/CP) - "Alleged subsidies to nuclear power operators in the UK"), and a response is awaited. The submission is described in “Legal bid to halt nuclear construction” (bit.ly/Mp9Bfy).